Allen West, Who Once Claimed There Were 80 Communists in Congress, Is Now Chair of Texas GOP

Allen West has been elected the new chair of the Texas Republican Party in a virtual convention held early Monday morning. The former congressman defeated the incumbent chairman.

Outgoing Chairman James Dickey was seeking a second term at the helm of the party but West managed to defeat him in the early hours of Monday morning.

West declared victory at around 3.30 am and Dickey conceded defeat thereafter.

“I just want to say how truly humbled I am by this honor, and that I will work hard for Texas and Texans,” West said on Twitter.

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“I would like to thank my amazing and dedicated team, as well as an incredible number of supporters. Thank you all! Now the work begins.”

President Donald Trump was quick to congratulate West on his own Twitter account, retweeting West’s comments to his followers.

“Congratulations Allen, great job!” Trump said.

West became notorious during his time in Congress representing Florida’s 22nd district. He was filmed answering a question about the number of Communists in the House of Representatives.

“That’s a fair question,” West said.

“I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party.”

“It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus,” he said.

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